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Two allegedly connected to Sinaloa cartel arrested in Colton

Two men allegedly connected to the Sinaloa drug cartel are in custody after state narcotics officers arrested them and seized about 40 pounds of cocaine at a parking lot in Colton this week.

Juan Mora Flores, 40, of Tecate, Mexico, and Jose Vega Diaz, 47, of Whittier, were booked at the Riverside County Jail. Both are being held in lieu of $1-million bail, according to a state Department of Justice report.

Narcotics officers from the Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force (INCA) were conducting undercover operations against the cartel's drug trafficking activities, according to the report.

Through a confidential informant, they arranged to buy cocaine from the men. When the buy was set up for a hotel in Colton on Thursday, the men were arrested and the cocaine seized. The street value of the seized cocaine is $1.8 million.

The two men are scheduled to make their initial court appearance on Tuesday, according to the report.